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Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Getting you there: 21 projects we completed in 2017

With 2017
coming to a close, we’re finishing 21 transportation projects that
will make getting around Calgary better today and for years to come. Work underway
in all four quadrants results in city-wide improvement of traffic management, goods
movement, transit reliability, and safe, comfortable travel for everyone. Here
are the highlights:

Acting Director of
Transportation Infrastructure, Kerensa Fromherz, goes into details, “It’s been
a big year for us. The Glenmore Trail/Ogden Road and the Bowfort Trail/Trans-Canada
Highway interchanges are key to improving how we move goods in and around
Calgary. The new 12 Street S.E. bridge (opening
celebration on Dec. 9!) means maintaining that Bow River crossing for
another 100 years, plus it creates a much better pathway space. Our road
upgrades on 1 Street S.W., 61 Avenue S.W., and at the 16 Avenue/Home Road N.W.
intersection are in popular places, so the sidewalk and crossing upgrades mean
a safer space for people walking and a more predictable space to drive.”

The 21
projects make up a $400 million investment to help manage traffic and help people
move around the city. Fromherz explains, “We look at getting the best value for
the investment not just for today, but how an interchange, like at Macleod
Trail/162 Avenue, or an intersection upgrade, like at 16 Avenue/29 Street N.W.,
will work as development happens around it in the short and long term.” But
it’s more than just value for the future: “We were also able to take advantage
of the market to get good prices on material and put people to work,” Fromherz
adds. More than 3,200 jobs were created by these projects.

Looking east at the redesigned Zoo Road, pathway and flood mitigation measures

With these
transportation projects touching 30 communities, improvements are also happening
at the community level. People living in the residential neighbourhoods around
the Bowness Road, Northmount Drive and East Memorial road improvements now have
a more comfortable place to walk and cycle in areas that can also be busy
driving roads.

These projects,
along with 223 km of new pavement on Calgary roads, help manage traffic better
and connect people between their communities and destinations. Offering safe,
affordable, and reliable options to travel around Calgary is important to
developing and growing a resilient and vibrant city for decades to come.